ShtetLinks: This Romanian Communa consists of
-Bociciou
Mare (Administrative Center)
-Craciunesti
(Jewish Religious Center)
-Tisa
-Lug
Ukrainian Town –
Velykiv Bychkiv, Zakarpatska, Ukraine
Other
Names
o Nagy Bocsko, Maramaros, Hungary (Original Hungarian town until end of WWI)
o
Velykiv Bychkiv, Zakarpatska, Ukraine (former Nagy
Bocsko north of the Tizsa River since end of WWII)
o
Ukrainian Bychkov (Yiddish for Velykiv Bychkiv)
o
Bociciou Mare, Maramures, Romania (former Nagy
Bocsko south of the Tizsa River, and Administrative Center of Current Romanian
Communa since end of WWI)
o
Romanian Bychkov (Yiddish for Bocicoiu Mare)
o
Craciunesti, Maramures, Romania (Old Hungarian
Tizsakarasonyfalva, Maramaros, Hungary)
o
Tizsakarasonyfalva, Maramures, Hungary (Original
Hungarian Name for Craciunesti until end of WWI)
o
Tizsakarasonyfalva, Maramures, Hungary was really
composed of two towns, Tizsa (now Tisa) and Karasonyfalva (now Craciunesti)
o
Kresnif (Yiddish transliteration close to the
Ukrainian pronounciation of Craciunesti or Karasonyfalva)
View Bocicoiu Mare via Map Quest (Latitude 47°58´, Longitude 24°00´)
Map from Mayor’s Office of the Communa of Bocicoiu Mare, Craciunesti, Tisa and Lug.
Maps
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Background Information
- Bocicoiu Mare,
formerly Nagy Bocsko, is a typical Transylvanian Town
- Erdoelve or
Erdely in Hungarian means “beyond the forest”, in Romanian is Ardeal, in
German is Siebenburgen, and in English is Transylvania
- Surrounded on
three sides by the high, densely wooded Carpathian Alps
- 1st
C. BC-Dacian Empire cultivated the valleys; mined salt, silver and gold;
and towns formed on rivers to trade
- 2nd
C. AD-Emperor Trajan conquered the area, organized the province of Dacia,
staying for a Century and one-half
- Romans were
replaced with Visigoths, Gespids, Huns, Avars and Slavs
- 9th
C. AD-Conquest by Magyar Tribes
- 11th C. AD-Establishment of the Christian Kingdom of Hungary & 1st Jewish Immigration from Germany, Bohemia, and Moravia
- 1092, Council of Szabolcs, Church prohibited
marriages between Jews and Christians, work on Christian festivals, and
the purchase of slaves. Jews lived only in towns ruled by the bishops -
Buda, Pressburg, Tyrnau, and Esztergom (Not part of Transylvania)
- 12th C. AD-Arpad Kings settled military communities in the Carpathian passes, Szekels in the east and Saxons in the south & the Jews of Hungary occupied important positions in economic life
- 1222 - rule was created which prohibited the Jews from holding certain offices and from receiving titles of nobility.
- 1251 Jews recruitment by King
- 1279 Church Council of Buda forbade Jews to
lease land and required Jewish badge to be worn, but the decrees were not
applied due to the king's objection
- 13th
C. AD-King’s army becomes privileged nobility, and basis of the system of
Estates, granted extensive autonomy from Hungary proper in response to
the Tatar invasions
- 1349 - Black Death led to the first expulsion of the Jews from Hungary
- 1360 – General Explusion Decree
- 1364 – Return Authorized subject to restrictions
- 1365 Office of "judge of the Jews,"
in charge of Jewish property,
imposition and collection of taxes, representation of the Jews
before the government, and the protection of their rights instituted by
King
- 1437
‘Fraternal Union’ of nobility from 7 counties, wealthy, fortified Saxon
autonomous towns; and self-governing Szekels; establishing a precedence
of co-operation that resulted in separate ‘nations’ or autonomous territory
with its own laws, multi-lingual and multiple religions.
- 1459 Kapolna
Union at Medgyes possess its own Diet, and security, but also has
nobility as representatives in the Hungarian Diet
- 1494 - 16 Jews were burned at the stake
- 15th C. Buda gains in importance as Jews expelled from other countries also settled there
- 1515 - Jews were placed under the protection of
Emperor Maximilian I.
- 1526 Battle of
Mohacs, Ottoman Turks conquer Hungary, but Transylvania remains
independent
- 1541 Hungarian
decreta no longer applies to Transylvania, and Transylvania attendance at
the Hungarian Diet is reduced & after central Hungary becomes part of the Ottoman Empire in 1541
Jewish improves with Jewish settlement in Buda was renewed, and Sephardim
of Asia Minor and Balkan origin also settled there.
- 1570 Speyer
Agreement, Emperor Maximillian converts the King of Hungary to Prince of
Transylvania & Hungarian Parts
- 1571 Prince dies,
and Transylvania elects its own leader instead of reverting to Hungarian
rule
- 1576, Ruler Istvan
Bathori, appoints successor and becomes King of Polan
- 16th
C. Reformation basis for social
diversity in Transylvania & in
Pressburg, Buda, and other towns. King Ladislas VI canceled all debts
owed to the Jews.
- 1604 Istvan Bocskai
leads successful anti-Habsburg revolt.
Nagy Bocsko is named for this leader. Nagy means ‘large’ and Bocsko is the aristocratic
landowner’s name. Bocicoiu Mare
is the Romanian equivalent where Mare means ‘large’ and Bocicoiu is the
Romanian transliteration of Bocsko.
Velykiv Bychkiv is the Ukrainian equivalent, where Velykiv means
‘large’ and Bychkiv is the transliteration of Hungarian Bocsko and
Romanian Bocicoiu. Bychkiv also
means ‘bull’ in Ukrainian.
Bocskai is a champion of religious tolerance against Habsburg
Roman Catholic absolutism.
- 1621 Signatory of
the Treaty of Westphalia establishing the rights of protestants in both
countries, existence of autonomous Transylvanian religious and political
liberties, surviving the Hungarian Counter-Reformation.
- 1623 Status of Jews
in Transylvania stabilized with granting of privileges by Gabriel Bethlen (1613–29).
- 1653 Diet of the
tres nations recognizes the Calvinist, the Lutheran, the Roman Catholic
and the Unitarian Churches. The
Orthodox Church of the Romanians is tolerated but has no political
rights.
- 1670 – Jews
expulled from Catholic Habsburg Vienna relocate to the estate of Count Esterhazy in Eisenstadt and
six small neighboring towns
- 1680 Hapsburgs
reconquer Hungary from Turks, and Transylvania is ruled by Vienna for two
centuries. The provincial government retains its system of privileges
including the rights of protestants and estates & many of the Jewish inhabitants join the
retreating Turks. Congregations of Hungarian Jews formed within the
important communities of the Balkans
- 1703 Anti-Habsburg
rebellion unites all religious groups, and is influenced by Polish
political ideas and Bockskai’s ideas.
- 18th C.
Under Austrian rule, Saxons have a strong presence. Population grows from
860,000 to 1.5 million by 1780s, despite the plague, as a result of
large-scale migration to underpopulated areas of Hungary retaken from the
Turks. This is probably when the
migration of our Jewish ancestors occurred.
- Transylvanian
independence resulted in the survival of Protestantism and the resulting
multi-denominational society that had to be constantly balanced with the
militant Roman Catholic Habsburgs and infidel Ottomans. This diverse
society probably was a strong attraction to our Jewish ancestors who
migrated to Transylvanian Hungary.
- Transylvanian
tolerance is based on the medieval concept of ‘jurisdictio’ not legal
equality, e.g. it is based on the political necessity of forming
coalitions in the face of Catholicism and Islam, than religious freedom
- Evidence of this
tolerance and co-existence exists in the BMD Vital Statistics Registers
in Bocicoiu Mare Townhall, where one register exists for Catholics,
Protestants and Jews. Standard is
for one register per religion.
Bibliography & Documents
- Hungarian Books
- Genealogy Research in Hungary
- Maramures County
- Transylvanian
History
- NORTH TRANSYLVANIA - Simon Wiesenthal Learning Center
- Romania - Jewish Communities
- Jewish History of Hungary
- Hungary
- Jewish Heritage
- “Historians
and the History of Transylvania”, by Laszlo Peter, East European Monographs, Boulder,
Distributed by Columbia University Press, New York, 1992
- “History
of the Jews in Poland and Russia”, by Simon M. Dubnow, translated from
the Russian by I. Friedlanender, Originally Published by The Jewish
Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1918.
Searchable
Databases
Would you like to connect with others
researching old Hungarian Nagy Bocsko currently Velykiv Bychkvi, Zakarpatska,
Ukraine; and Bocicoiu Mare, Maramures, Romania (this communa is comprised of
Craciunesti, formerly known as Tizsakarasonyfalva, aka Kresnif; Tisa; and
Lug)? Or join SIGs where you can
collaberate with others researching in Hungary and Romania? Click on the
following links to JewishGen Family Finder database or Special Interest Groups.
- JewishGen
Family Finder JGFF for Bocicoiu Mare,
Craciunesti,
Lug, Tisa, Velykiv Bychkiv
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Compiled by Leslie Gyi
Created by LG on 3 November,
2000 Copyright © 2000 Leslie Gyi |